Skype in hot water in France after failing to register

France's telecommunications monitor Arcep said Tuesday it had asked prosecutors to launch a probe into Microsoft subsidiary Skype for failing to register as a telecommunications firm despite several reminders.

France's telecommunications monitor Arcep said Tuesday it had asked prosecutors to launch a probe into Microsoft subsidiary Skype for failing to register as a telecommunications firm despite several reminders.

France's telecommunications monitor Arcep said Tuesday it had asked prosecutors to launch a probe into Microsoft subsidiary Skype for failing to register as a telecommunications firm despite several reminders.

Arcep said it had asked Skype to declare itself "an electronic communications operator" but it had failed to do so.

An Arcep statement said Skype should register as a telecommunications service as it provided "French Internet users with services that allow them to make phone calls to or from a device connected to the Internet... in France or elsewhere in the world."

As a regular telecoms service provider, Skype would have to undertake certain obligations, including routing emergency calls and allow legal wire-tapping.

The latest move comes at a bad time for Microsoft. The European Union fined Microsoft 561 million euros ($730 million) earlier this month for failing to provide customers with a choice of Internet browser, as promised.